PSMD Team Pokepals - A Reunion and Apology Years In The Making
by chosenone1994
Summary: Team Poképals was destined to be a formidable and heroic team for several years...until an event caused Leon to leave the team and his best friend Blaze behind. Years later, the world is under danger from an entity made from negative emotions, as the two pokémon unknowingly reunite with each other to save the world again. Team Poképals AU, summarized story of PSMD.
1. Disbandment and New Beginnings

**Surprise, readers! If you thought I was done with Team Poképals, think again! Since I like this piplup and chimchar duo so much, I've decided to write a three part AU "what if" story in which an event after the entire Explorers of Sky story basically allowed the team to "travel to the future" to the story of Super Mystery Dungeon. To find out what that exactly means, read this story. Enjoy it!**

**SPOILER ALERT: Contains spoilers from both Explorers of Sky and Super Mystery Dungeon games.**

**Pokémon and the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series belong to Nintendo, Game Freak, and Spike Chunsoft.**

* * *

_**Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon**_

_**Team Poképals – A Reunion and Apology Years in the Making**_

_**Chapter 1**_

_**The Unexpected Disbandment and New Beginnings**_

For the first couple of years, Team Poképals was a successful exploration team in the Grass Continent of the pokémon world. Blaze the chimchar, and Leon the piplup, who was formerly a human, were the founders of the legendary and heroic team that saved the world not once, but twice, from the destruction of time from one point, and from preventing the distortion of space on the other. It seemed like their friendship and the legacy of the team would continue for several years to come, but it suddenly ended on one fateful day...

According to an unknown witness, Leon and Blaze got very angry at each other over the disputed ownership of Wigglytuff's Guild, since Team Go-Getters, a team formerly from the Air Continent, and also famous for saving the pokémon world once, was allowed to take control of the guild themselves. Despite the two teams having reached the guildmaster rank, the highest rank for any exploration team in the Grass Continent, Team Poképals unexpectedly opted out of sharing the guild for an unknown reason. This made the leaders Leon and Blaze furious at each other to the point where Leon wanted to quit the team and run away from his best friend. Blaze was understandably left devastated and heartbroken once the unthinkable occurred.

Once he knew that his best friend Leon was not going to come back anytime soon, Blaze conducted a desperate search for him, hoping that the human-turned-piplup would be around the Grass Continent somewhere…

* * *

Meanwhile, the witness went on over to Leon, who was overwhelmingly sad over making the difficult choice to disband Team Poképals. Noticing his intense sadness, the pokémon asked him if he wanted to go to a new land in order to save the world again and get his mind off of the terrible event. The piplup agreed, and he traveled with the pokémon off to a new land called the Water Continent.

Once they arrived there, Leon himself asked the accompanying pokémon to transform him back to a human in order to completely forget about his recent painful experience on the disbandment. The pokémon accepted, and it transformed the piplup back into a human. For the many years that followed on the Water Continent, they researched details on what was to be a new threat to the entire pokémon world...a negative entity called the Dark Matter.

The Dark Matter was made up of negative feelings and emotions that threatened to destroy the whole world if it was not stopped. Standing on this knowledge, Leon and his accompanying pokémon made a resolve and long journey to defeat Dark Matter. On the way, they managed to discover a long lost civilization that was buried underwater to gather crucial information on where Dark Matter would attack to turn pokémon into stone and cause the end of the world. Leon and the pokémon then went to the Tree of Life, which was located on an archipelago on the Sea of Wonders, indicated by the underwater ruins' writings.

When they arrived at the Tree of Life, they confronted the Dark Matter itself, and they managed to defeat the negative entity. It was, however, not defeated successfully, as it would spread its remains throughout the pokémon world, hoping to be reborn in the distant future. Realizing what it meant, Leon agreed to the pokémon to have his own memory erased so that they would formulate a different plan to destroy Dark Matter later.

Leon and the pokémon went back to the Water Continent, and in a forest within the outskirts of a certain village, the pokémon wiped Leon's memory clean as promised. He also lost consciousness and was transformed back into a piplup. The pokémon then left him and was not seen again.

* * *

Leon, now back to being a piplup, woke up and went with a new pokémon named Nuzleaf into the peaceful town called Serene Village. He volunteered to look after the piplup, and during one day, Leon ran into a young chimchar boy who was named...Blaze. The name felt strangely familiar to Leon, but he could not recognize who he really was, due to Leon's recent memory loss. Blaze also had a different personality than he did back then, being that he was more mischievous and rash than what he was before he came to the Air Continent. They eventually formed a team named Poképals, which was also faintly familiar to the former human.

Leon and Blaze, both unknowingly reunited with each other, and sporting mysterious scarves called Harmony Scarves, went to Serene Village's school for a month or so, then they had to eventually leave the village in order to get away from a pursuing group of Beheeyem. While Leon left from Nuzleaf, and Blaze left from his adoptive carracosta father, they escaped to Lively Town, which was a bigger town than their old village, in order to join the Expedition Society, led by Ampharos. Leon and Blaze then became a fully-fledged exploration team dedicated to completing missions worldwide.

What they did not know, was that they were indeed back with each other again, but more importantly, that the endangerment of the entire pokémon world was about to return once more.


	2. Accepting and Remembering Before Leaving

_**Chapter 2**_

_**Accepting and Remembering Before Leaving**_

Leon and Blaze, now having formed the new Team Poképals from the Water Continent, went on worldwide exploration duties for the first several days, before one day, they had heard widespread reports that the rate of pokémon turning to stone had increased at an alarming rate. The duo, along with the help of the Expedition Society, conducted an investigation to discover that the Dark Matter had indeed been reborn, and caused other pokémon like Nuzleaf and Yveltal to be possessed in order to turn innocent pokémon into stone.

Most of the Expedition Society members were turned into stone trying to save them, and at one point, Leon and Blaze were also turned into stone and were trapped in a negative, abyssal world, but the two destined heroes managed to escape from it with the help and sacrifice of those members. Once they got back to the pokémon world, they headed straight back to the headquarters of the Society within Lively Town and discovered that while most of the pokémon there were turned into stone, some of them, including what was left of the Society's members, had survived.

Ampharos and Jirachi, the only surviving members of the Expedition Society, along with Espurr from Serene Village, and a runaway beheeyem, offered support for Leon and Blaze as they traveled to the Prehistoric Ruins, located just outside of the Air Continent. The beheeyem led them there, only to discover that they were led into a trap set up by Nuzleaf, who was possessed by Dark Matter. Team Poképals discovered that he had ordered the beheeyem to lead them there so they could be destroyed. Despite the close call, Jirachi, along with the time travel pokémon Celebi, transported Leon, Blaze, and company over to one of the islands on the Sea of Wonders where the Tree of Life was situated.

Before they made their way over to the tree itself, Ampharos, along with Jirachi and Celebi, explained to a still amnesiac Leon that he was the human that confronted Dark Matter a long time ago. He, along with Mew, were also the two heroes from the legend that unsuccessfully defeated the negative entity once before. Next, Ampharos and company explained to Blaze that he had been destined to confront Dark Matter now, much to his confusion. With that said, everyone made their way to the Tree of Life.

* * *

When the pokémon arrived at the tree itself, they discovered it was greatly withered due to the planet being pulled closer to the sun. Dark Matter was also at the top of the tree, further eating away at its energy. As they tried to make their way toward the tree, they were confronted by the possessed group of beheeyem, Nuzleaf, and Yveltal. They managed to defeat and free them from Dark Matter's possession, but it began to lift the Tree of Life off the ground in a last ditch effort to prevent Team Poképals from going inside it. However, thanks to the help of several legendary pokémon across the world, Leon and Blaze managed to get inside the now airborne tree to make their way upward to Dark Matter.

* * *

Thanks to the power of the mysterious Harmony Scarves they had on around their necks, Leon and Blaze evolved to their final forms instantly, with the piplup evolving into an empoleon, and the chimchar evolving into an infernape. Their enhanced strength was what they needed for the final battle against Dark Matter itself, as they traveled inside the Tree of Life.

When they confronted the negative entity, they managed to weaken it for the first half of the battle. However, it suddenly regathered its energy by draining the Tree of Life's own vitality completely, meaning that Leon and Blaze had reverted back to their piplup and chimchar forms. Feeling that hope was completely lost, they were suddenly urged by all of the pokémon around the world, those who were alive, and even those who were turned into stone, to never give up and keep fighting. Thanks to the much-needed encouragement, Leon and Blaze finally defeated Dark Matter.

Only the core of Dark Matter itself remained, telling the heroes that it would presumably never be destroyed permanently, no matter how many times it was defeated. However, Blaze told it that he accepted the fact that everyone in the world, including himself and Leon, had negative feelings that they would have to let out themselves from time to time. Blaze also told Dark Matter that everyone, including the evil entity, indeed had a good side in which happiness and other positive feelings resided so pokémon could comfort each other when it mattered the most. With that being said, Blaze finally tells Dark Matter that it belongs with everyone, and he accepted it being a part of him as well, before he punched it into oblivion. Dark Matter graciously thanked him for being accepted, before it faded away for good.

* * *

The Tree of Life returned to the surface, and was revived completely, freeing all of the pokémon who were turned into stone. It also released Xerneas, the Tree of Life reincarnate, who thanked Team Poképals for their heroism. The years-long crisis was now finally over, thanks to Dark Matter being permanently defeated. Leon and Blaze returned back to the Expedition Society headquarters in Lively Town, and were awarded several days off of exploration duties so that they could reunite with their friends back in Serene Village.

Once Leon and Blaze arrived back at the village, the pokémon there threw a party in honor of Team Poképals' accomplishment for saving the entire world back home, but Nuzleaf was absent from his home, still feeling regretful for deceiving Leon and his best friend Blaze while being under control of Dark Matter. The piplup was welcomed by Blaze's adoptive father Carracosta to stay at his place for the night. Knowing that Leon would have to leave his best friend behind, now that the world was saved, he quietly reminded himself to request to Blaze that he really wanted to stay in the pokémon world for tomorrow.

* * *

The next morning, Leon, as promised, went to see Blaze over at the big tree on one of the hills just outside of Serene Village to discuss that he wanted to stay here in the pokémon world. He sat down beside him to begin their critical conversation.

"You like being on this hill, don't you?" Leon began.

"Yeah. Now that I think about it," Blaze replied, "you and I came up to this hill the first time we met. I told you about my dream to become a member of the Expedition Society then, and it was where I gave you one of our Harmony Scarves, too."

"Yup," Leon answered. "It was just like yesterday when we first met."

"How 'bout that other time when Ampharos let us became _Junior _Expedition Society members, huh?"

"And when we last came to this hill before we left the village and set out together? Those were all the times we came to this spot, Blaze."

"You're right, Leon. There are so many memories up here."

"No wonder it's a great spot to be at. The wind feels pretty nice here, too."

While they took a pause in their conversation. Leon thought to himself.

_Speaking of which, I've gotta tell Blaze that I really want to stay in this world._

He took a deep breath before he spoke out loud again.

"Blaze, old pal...I must tell you something important."

"Go ahead, Leon."

"My time here in this world as a pokémon is almost up. My role in saving this wonderful world is over...but I really don't want to go! I want to stay here longer with everyone here...and more than anything else, with _you_ here, Blaze. We _have_ to find a way for me stay here...so that I won't _ever _have to say goodbye to you."

"...That's very touching to hear, Leon. Thanks for saying that."

Blaze had a brief pause before he continued.

"Now...it's my turn to tell you why I came here. I saw light falling onto this hill here. That light...was actually Xerneas."

"Xerneas?!" Leon exclaimed in shock.

"That's right. When he found me here, he said...that he was here to wake me."

"Xerneas came...to wake _you_, Blaze?"

"Yup. He said he'd promised me. I gotta say...why would he promise me something like that? A-and when, even? At first, it all seemed like some kinda weird joke...but when I touched Xerneas' horns...I understood, and remembered."

Blaze turned his head to Leon.

"Leon, the truth is...I'm your old best friend from the past, _and _I'm Mew."

"What?!" the piplup exclaimed in utter shock in disbelief. "I'm your old best friend from a long time ago..._and _you're Mew?! _That _Mew?! The one who-"

"Yeah," Blaze said, cutting off Leon's statement. "Back when Celebi told me that he thought this battle would be my battle to fight...I somehow knew that he _was _right. It was like something just clicked. Although I had no idea what it meant then...I finally got the truth of it all once I touched Xerneas. In my previous life...I _was _your best friend...and _then _I was Mew."

"In...a previous life?!"

"That's right, Leon. We met a very long time ago. Way longer than you can even imagine."

The piplup listened closely to Blaze as he turned his gaze to the village and continued to speak…

"We were the best of friends back at the Grass Continent. I met you on the beach where you first came after that time travel incident. We formed a team called, oddly enough, Team Poképals, and we strove to become one of the best exploration teams on the continent. We saved the world not once, but twice back then, and things looked to be on the bright side from then on. However...I made a mistake in allowing Team Go-Getters only in operating Wigglytuff's Guild, instead of them and us sharing it together once we reached the guildmaster rank. I began to get self-centered, and I wanted you and I to have the glory for ourselves. You became very upset about this idea, and you stormed out of our team by leaving us...and by leaving me alone. I desperately tried to search for you across the Grass Continent, but I knew you left from there...so I had left as well to search the world for you. Months and months went by, and later, I was very depressed and weak that I _still _couldn't find you. By then, Mew came to me."

Leon, still having no memory of those events occurring, looked confused as Blaze took a deep breath before he continued his long speech.

"He asked that if I wanted to live longer, he would allow my own spirit to fuse with his own so I could go on. By doing this, however...I would lose my body, and most of my memories temporarily at least, until the world was completely saved from Dark Matter. I accepted all of that so that I could help save everyone once more. Then, when you and I first fought with Dark Matter, way back in the past...we defeated it, thanks to the stars aligning just right. That's what we thought at first...but it really wasn't true."

Blaze turned to Leon once more and spoke again.

"Leon, you and Mew defeated Dark Matter using all your strength...but it's no good to _just _defeat Dark Matter. All the hatred inside it rained down upon the world...so that it would be reborn in the distant future...and it was. It's like Dark Matter told us in this battle."

The chimchar and the piplup stood up and faced each other, as Blaze continued on…

"In other words, Leon...the last time we defeated Dark Matter, we actually failed. Mew messed up..._I _messed up. So it was then that I was prepared to take full responsibility for that particular slip-up. I sent my own spirit into the future...to be reborn as Blaze."

"So...what exactly are you saying? I _still _don't get it..." insisted Leon.

"It wasn't the beheeyem that made you lose all of your memories, Leon...it was _me_. I...or Mew...erased your memories. We also transformed you back into a human when you left Team Poképals, and then back into a piplup when we unknowingly reunited. It was what you agreed to...before you came to this continent."

"I agreed...to all of _that?!_"

"We'd made all those plans, like sealing the Luminous Water and all that. But I realized...if we just depended on what we already knew...we'd just repeat the same mistakes. We couldn't win like that."

Leon had a somber look on his face from Blaze's last sentence. The chimchar spoke once again…

"Dark Matter was born from the negative emotions lurking within ancient pokémon. Some of those emotions originated from Mew as well. But when I accepted Dark Matter...it disappeared, along with the part of it that came from Mew. It was _my _battle. I was fighting to forgive Mew...and myself. Not just for our failed attempt to stop Dark Matter...but for also what I've done back at the Grass Continent to ruin our friendship. The moment that I accepted Dark Matter...I set my own destruction in motion, as a part of Dark Matter."

Blaze now had an apologetic smile on his face.

"So, Leon...it's not you who has to go...it's me."

He backed away from the piplup, as a yellow orb surrounded him.

_Blaze! _Leon thought.

"I asked Xerneas for one more favor." Blaze said. "When I remembered everything...I knew I would be gone from this world. But...I wanted to at least tell you, Leon. I _had _to explain… I begged Xerneas not to make me disappear before I at least got to do that. I'm very glad that he kept his end of the bargain."

"Blaze..." Leon said out loud.

"It's a strange feeling that I'm Mew...but at the same time, I'm not. I'm Blaze too, ya know. I'm not the same Mew that I was back then. The part of me that is him is filled with joy at finally having done what I was meant to do..._and _by finally reuniting with a long lost friend. That reunion part is also the part of Blaze, which is me of course. But...another part of my true chimchar self...hates that I have to give up on my dreams right when I was just getting back on track...and hates that I have to say goodbye to you...again."

Blaze now had tears streaming from his eyes, as he sobbed, but continued speaking.

"Just so you know, Leon...I really, _really_ wanted to stay with you too… I actually wanted to stay with you forever...even after what I mostly put you through after that stupid mistake I made that disbanded our old team back at the Grass Continent."

The orb got brighter around Blaze.

"But...I guess I'm out of time… Just remember that this world only keeps going because everybody supports one another. They live every day accepting one another. The one who taught that truth to a self-centered fool like me...is _you_, Leon. I'm so, _so_ very sorry for what I did back in our old exploration days."

"B-Blaze!" the piplup could only respond, as he got closer to the chimchar.

"I had a lot of fun getting to revive our dream, though… Getting to reunite with you...and getting myself to live again as well."

"Blaze, w-wait!" Leon said, as he also had tears streaming down his face, desperately trying to hold onto his best pal's hand in an attempt to prevent him leaving.

"Thank you...for making all of that possible, Leon."

The orb around Blaze obscured his body, as he and the orb begun to float up into the sky, prompting Leon to step back and let go of him.

"I'll be fine, Leon! I'm always fine, aren't I?" shouted Blaze. "So do me two last favors...remember who I was, big bro...and don't you cry!"

"Blaze! Don't leave me!"

Leon had a piece of his lost memory come back to him, as he finally recognized who the chimchar really was.

_W-wait...Blaze **was** my old best friend back in the Grass Continent! Not only that...he was also my adoptive little brother! So...why is this happening?! Th-this isn't how it was supposed to end… Is this why I chose to forget everything?! Did I know that this was the only way things could end…? Did I have to forget...to be able to go through with it all...for the sake of the pokémon world...and most of all...for Blaze?_

"**Blaze!** **BLAAAAAAAAAZE!**" Leon shouted helplessly to his long lost little brother.

He collapsed onto the grass and cried heavily, knowing that there was nothing more he could do to prevent Blaze from leaving.

Leon had indeed remembered his old pal Blaze again, but it was too late at the moment when they had to say goodbye once more.


	3. Searching and Promising

_**Chapter 3**_

_**Searching and Promising**_

One night at the Expedition Society headquarters, several days after Blaze's disappearance, Leon stared at the night sky from his team's sleeping room. He couldn't bare to look at his lost pal's empty straw bed, as he was lost in thought.

_Maybe Blaze isn't totally gone yet. Maybe his spirit is still out there...somewhere in the world. If only...there was a way._

Leon went back onto his bed to try and get some sleep.

* * *

The next day, the sun shone brightly on Lively Town. It had indeed been some time now since Dark Matter was properly defeated. The peace in the pokémon world continues to be unbroken, as Leon himself remains here, continuing to work as a member of the Expedition Society. The thing that mattered was he was still a pokémon, but he still missed his long lost little brother Blaze greatly. It absolutely devastated Leon that he had him back one moment, and then the next moment, he suddenly vanished. Doing his best to forget about this heartbreaking scenario, the piplup went on exploration jobs to build the reputation of the new Team Poképals further.

After the day was done, Leon was visited by Ampharos, the chief of the Expedition Society, on the harbor of Lively Town. The chief himself noticed that the former human boy was still depressed on losing Blaze so suddenly, so he suggested that Leon go to the Sand Dune of Spirits on the Sand Continent tomorrow to look for Xatu, a pokémon who could see both the past and the future. With a determined resolve, Leon rested up for tonight, then tomorrow he made his way to the Sand Continent using the Lapras Travel Liner service to get to the Sand Dune of Spirits.

* * *

When he arrived at the end of Sand Dune's accompanying dungeon, Leon found Xatu and asked him if he saw anything like Mew in the past. He did, and instructed the piplup to find the reborn mythical pokémon in the Mystery Jungle located in the Grass Continent.

Leon did what he was told, and went to the jungle to the far east of the world. He indeed found Mew, who had a similar personality to that of Blaze during his time with Leon in the early Expedition Society days. Leon, hoping that Mew would eventually lead to Blaze, took the mythical pokémon on various explorations for the next few days.

Later on one day, Leon was surprised that he suddenly awoke back at the hill with the big tree near Serene Village on the Water Continent. He did not have Mew beside him, and had to quickly make his way back to Lively Town as soon as possible. Just as he was about to leave the village, he suddenly remembered that Mew had fallen ill, and was determined more than ever to get back to the Expedition Society HQ.

Leon eventually arrived back at the Society, where he discovered that Mew was not in his team's room either. A series of memories suddenly entered the piplup's mind, one where Xatu investigated and insisted that there was still a fragment of Dark Matter left within Mew, and another memory in which Leon wanted to take Mew to the hill with the big tree so that he could try to cure the mythical pokémon himself. Suddenly, one more memory appeared in which Mew disappeared beside Leon, then the piplup got hit from behind and lost his consciousness. Those series of memories is what makes him believe that he suddenly ended up on the hill near Serene Village.

When he was done remembering all of those events, Leon explained to Ampharos and Mawile that he was attacked by an unknown pokémon back at the village, then they handed him a note saying that the writer of the letter claimed to be a "protector of peace". They wrote down that Mew was going to be destroyed in the Purifying Cave so that Dark Matter could be completely erased. Alarmed by this possibility, and feeling unsure if it was the solution, Leon went over to the cave, along with two teammates, to save Mew from his impending destruction.

* * *

When he arrived at the end of Purifying Cave's dungeon, Leon thanked his two teammates for getting him to this point, and dismissed them before he went into the deepest part of the cave. He went into a darkened room where he discovered that Mew was floating unconsciously. He tried to approach him, but a voice suddenly rang out.

"Stop! Stay back, Leon! Don't you touch that there Mew!"

_I...I know that voice! But it can't be…_ the piplup thought. _It can't be him…_

A blinding light flashed within the area for a few seconds, then when it cleared, Nuzleaf appeared. His unique accent and way of speech made it easy for Leon to identify. Not only was Nuzleaf here, but he had three beheeyem beside him.

"It's you, Nuzleaf!" a shocked Leon said out loud. "A-and you brought your beheeyem as well! That must mean...the ones who attacked me and kidnapped Mew...was all of you?!"

"Yes...it was us!" Nuzleaf answered with a look of regret on his face. "I'm mighty sorry about that, Leon! I know I've caused you no end of trouble...and the truth is that I didn't want to have to do this. But...we've gotta wipe out that Dark Matter once and for all!"

"We can't take it anymore!" a tearful beheeyem insisted. "We caused so much hurt to good pokémon!"

"We can't go through that kinda thing again!" Nuzleaf spoke once more.

"I...can understand that," replied Leon sadly. "I wouldn't want anything like that to ever happen again, either. But...that doesn't mean-"

Suddenly, light blue orbs emitted from Mew, alarming the piplup!

"M-Mew!"

He tried to get close to him, but Nuzleaf and the beheeyem stopped him from doing so.

"I'm sorry, Leon," the wily pokémon said, "but it's gotta end! You just have to accept this!"

The orbs around Mew increased in size and frequency.

_Mew is starting to disappear… _Leon thought. _Just like I did when Blaze and I saved the world once from its impending paralysis on our way back from Temporal Tower, and just like Blaze himself back at the hill with the big tree…_

The piplup's mind thought back to the time where he was surrounded by yellow orbs while a tearful Blaze urged him not to go away, and to recently where the chimchar floated to the sky on the hill near Serene Village so that Mew would be reborn. Once those painful memories ended, Leon found himself back in the present, looking at the possibly endangered mythical pokémon.

_Is this really...for the best?_

The orbs grew even larger around Mew, as Leon's mind raced once more, thinking of the memories that he had with him this time…

_Do I have to accept this? Is this truly for the best?_

Leon then thought back to the time where both he and Blaze disappeared in separate instances once more, before he closed his eyes and shouted the following out loud, while tears streamed down his face…

"**No! This isn't what I want! **I want us to stay together! If Dark Matter comes back, I'll beat it again! I just can't say goodbye...ever again!"

He opened his eyes, and gasped as he discovered that his Harmony Scarf around his neck glowed brightly, and then it removed itself from its captivity, while the light around Mew glowed as well. Both of those lights floated towards each other, and they collided, forming a shape of a familiar pokémon to Leon.

_Could that be…?_

The combined lights flashed, creating a blinding light within the area itself for a few moments. When it cleared, the darkness clearing, revealing light to the area. It was blue on the ground, with greenish-blue walls surrounding the room. More importantly, Blaze was on the ground in front of everybody. He was unconscious lying on his back, but his stomach moved up and down, indicating that he was indeed brought back to life. Leon, for the first time in a while, had a smile on his beak as he stared in amazement.

"**Blaze!**" he shouted.

"What in tarnation?!" Nuzleaf exclaimed, as he and the beheeyem dropped to the ground in disbelief.

Leon, meanwhile, took a step forward to Blaze, when Mew's voice rang out.

"Leon..."

The mythical pokémon himself finally woke up, as he turned to face both Blaze and Leon. He spoke to the piplup.

"So that's Blaze… When I was sleeping, I could feel your desperate wish, Leon."

"My...wish?"

"That's right," a voice said from behind Leon.

He turned around to see that Mawile, Ampharos, and Xatu were behind him.

"It's you, guys?!" Leon asked.

"I'm sorry, Leon," Ampharos began. "All of this was done...just to lead you here."

"To lead...me?"

"I saw it," Xatu spoke next. "I saw Blaze sealed within Mew. I saw Mew's collapse...and I knew that it was not because of any hidden fragment of Dark Matter...it was because Blaze still remained."

"If only the barrier could be broken," Ampharos said, "Blaze could return to this world. However, Leon, it would be up to the strength of your own feelings in the end. _That_, is what Xatu felt, and that is when Nuzleaf and the beheeyem came to talk with us."

Leon turned to Nuzleaf and his accompanying beheeyem.

"Nuzleaf and the others did this for me?"

"Yes," answered Ampharos. "They wanted to make up for what they had done to you, Leon. They had been searching all this time for a way to repay you. So when they heard from Xatu that there might be a way for Blaze to return to this world...they volunteered on their own to play this unsavory role."

"They tricked me into coming along with 'em, promising it'd be fun," Mew inserted, as Nuzleaf and the beheeyem turned to him. "That's how I ended up here. But you know what? I'm glad I did!" He laughed and had a big smile. "Sorry about beating on you all when I first realized it was a trap!"

Nuzleaf had a smile of embarrassment as he replied.

"Yeah...that was a situation, indeed. You whupped us good, kid. But that don't matter."

He, along with the beheeyem, Mew, and Leon, turned back to the other pokémon.

"Xatu, it really did work, right?" questioned Nuzleaf with a serious look.

"Is Blaze really-" one beheeyem began.

"You do not need to worry any further," answered Xatu. "Blaze _is _back. I imagine consciousness will soon return to him shortly."

"I-is that so?" Nuzleaf replied. He now had tears threatening to pour from his eyes, along with the beheeyem, as he turned to them.

"Well, ain't that somethin' y'all?! We finally went and did what's right! I'm finally feelin' mighty fine, now!"

He and the beheeyem cried joyfully as they ran up to each other for a group hug. Leon, feeling touched by this, also had tears in his eyes as he sniffed but still smiled.

"L-Leon…?" Blaze weakly said, recognizing the piplup's voice.

He turned down to his revived best friend, who was now barely awake, but smiled.

"Blaze!"

"Looks like...we meet once again. It's all because everyone, including you, helped us. Thanks, guys...and more importantly, thank you, Leon. Thank you so, _so_ much for bringing me back."

The piplup now had tears streaming down his face as he went down onto the chimchar to give him the long awaited hug he waited so long for.

"**Blaaaaze! **I m-missed you! Don't you ever l-leave me again!"

Leon started to cry uncontrollably onto Blaze's shoulder. All of those emotions that were kept within the piplup for so many days...regret, sadness, pain, relief, happiness, and everything in between, came pouring out of him at long last. Feeling all of those emotions as well, Blaze also cried as both he and Leon curled each other in a sobbing heap.

"I don't want you to leave me again either, Leon!"

They were reminded of all of the times when there was heartbreak involved between the both of them...from the time when Leon vanished in front of Blaze after saving the world once, when Leon left the team due to Blaze's accidental selfish mistake, and when Blaze himself had to leave Leon behind just so Mew would be reborn. All of those instances left one or the other utterly heartbroken.

But now, at long last, they had each other once again. Each had promised not to leave one another ever again. Once their crying had eventually died down, Leon and Blaze both got up, understandably shaken by their most emotional reunion yet, but they managed to smile. Both of them and the other pokémon made their way out of Purifying Cave, as Leon's quest to bring back Blaze was finally accomplished.

* * *

When they left the cave, Mew departed from the group to go back home to the Mystery Jungle. However, he would continue to remain both a friend and ally, promising to help out Team Poképals whenever they were in need. Nuzleaf also finally returned back to his home at Serene Village, accepted back by the pokémon of the village itself. The beheeyem even lived there with him from now on.

Night had arrived when Team Poképals and the Expedition Society members got back to Lively Town. Just about everyone went to bed in the headquarters, exhausted by today's successful mission. Leon and Blaze, however, remained awake as they sat on their straw beds and had a conversation with each other while the light in their room was off.

"Leon, I'm very sorry once again for putting you through such a difficult time for several years once I made that unforgivable slip-up back at the Grass Continent," Blaze began with a sad look on his face. "I'm not sure if I can ever forgive myself, though..."

"Hey, Blaze," Leon replied with a smile, "it's all right. I forgive you all the way, so let's not dwell on it too long. Both of us individually were ready to disappear for a while just so we could save the world, so that makes us even. I put you through so many months of pain once I was gone, and you did the same thing, though it only lasted around a month or two."

"I guess that's true." Blaze managed a smile. "We _are _even when it comes to the whole disappearing act, huh?"

"Yup...but let's promise each other that it'll never happen to either of us again...okay?"

"Yeah, Leon. After all we've been through, we'd never want to go through that incredibly sad stuff once more in our lifetime."

The two pals held out one of their hands to each other so they could shake on this crucial promise. Once it was done, they spoke again.

"I notice that we don't have those Harmony Scarves anymore," Leon said.

"Yeah," Blaze replied, as he begun to get sad again, "and neither for our old items that we usually wear. You once wore a Joy Ribbon, and I once wore a Defense Scarf. We also don't have our old friends near us, since they're way back at the Grass Continent probably looking after Wigglytuff's Guild now..."

"Listen, Blaze...I know it's heartbreaking that we don't have those great things anymore...but the one important thing that we still have...is our friendship. No matter how far apart we were after your mistake, we knew deep in our hearts that the sacred bond between us brothers, friends, and pals, will never be broken."

"You're right, Leon," Blaze replied with a smile, feeling reassured. "I know it's a little strange that you were once a former human, and that you consider a pokémon like me to be a brother...but it doesn't matter in the end. We're the closest thing to family that we can be right now. Sure, I have Carracosta adopting me as my pops now, and you have Nuzleaf as an adoptive father of your own...but our bond as loving brothers is what keeps us going for a very, _very _long time."

"I'm very glad to hear that you're on the same page as me, Blaze. Thanks."

"You're welcome, big bro."

Leon and Blaze stood up and gave each other a nice, warm hug. This is what they wanted to do, since they felt a little cold from all of the tears that they shed back at the Purifying Cave. They spoke once more while they continued to hug each other.

"Why don't we combine our beds so we can snuggle with each other tonight?" suggested Leon. "It's basically a way of telling ourselves that we're never letting go again."

"That's a great idea, pal," responded Blaze. "In fact, we'll sleep like this from now on."

"I couldn't agree more."

Leon and Blaze separated from their embrace and then they combined their beds as promised. The two straw beds became one large bed for both the piplup and the chimchar to sleep on, having all the extra room to move on it as well. They got on the bed, and snuggled close to each other as they lay down, closed their eyes, and wore wide smiles on their faces.

"Good night, little bro." said Leon.

"Night, big bro." replied Blaze.

They managed to fall asleep, wondering what exciting adventures they would face together for tomorrow and so on.

The two forever brothers have finally managed to put Blaze's mistake from many years ago behind them, as their great friendship had fully rekindled.

_When two spirits meet and go through so much together...they must be drawn back together. They surely met again._


End file.
